14:15 – 14:35

Silicon Photonic Optical Circuit Switch (OCS) for AI Networks

Optical circuit switching (OCS) is essential for resolving network bottlenecks in AI supercomputing, offering a high-speed, reconfigurable interconnect with ultra-low latency for data-intensive workloads. Current 3D free-space OCS systems used by hyperscalers are bulky and expensive. Fully integrated 2D OCS provides a path to drastically cut size, cost, and energy consumption while simultaneously boosting switching speed. This talk presents a novel, 2D silicon photonic OCS. We integrate micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) actuators with silicon photonics to physically move optical waveguides, a technique particularly effective for high-radix OCS designs.

Ming Wu, Ph.D.

Professor

UC Berkeley